Screws have existed for many years and are based on the principle of the inclined plane providing a wedging action to force the head of the screw into the substrate. Different screws have been developed for different materials.
Fasteners used to secure structure to low-strength frangible material will usually require some type of supporting material for the fastener. In the case of, e.g., drywall, a metal or wooden stud is typically used. In the case of masonry, self-tapping screw-type fasteners can be securely held in a pre-bored concrete hole by a thread design suited for capturing material between the threading as the hole is tapped. One example of such a masonry fastener is U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,646 to Giannuzzi.
What is needed is a screw-type fastener that may be used with a variety of material including, but not limited to frangible material, while at the same time being relatively cheap to produce.